168: Kevin Donaghy twice survived skin cancer | immunotherapy | pembroluzimab | metastatic melanoma
Release Date: 03/08/2026
190: John Morrissey survived Stage One colon cancer | colorectal cancer | cancerous polyp
Cancer Interviews
Not long after going in for a colonoscopy in 2015, John Morrissey was told he had Stage One colon cancer. A Denver-based radio traffic reporter, John learned of his diagnosis with a telephone call from his oncologist two minutes before he was scheduled to deliver a live report! He composed himself, delivered a flawless update, then immediately decided he had to take action. In three weeks, he underwent a surgical procedure that successfully removed a cancerous polyp. After three weeks of rest, John returned to work. He goes in for colonoscopies every...
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189: Steve Harrision survived lung cancer | carboplatin | pleural fusion | pemetrexed | bronchoscopy
Cancer Interviews
When Steve Harrison experienced fatigue, back soreness and shoulder pain in 2024, he attributed it to his “getting old.” He was in his early fifties. But when he began to have difficulty breathing, he sought medical attention. Because Steve also had asthma, his doctor had COPD, she prescribed an inhaler. That did little to no good. He saw another doctor who ran a variety of tests, which found pleural fusion. After a bronchoscopy and a biopsy, he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. In addition to chemotherapy, the oncologist prescribed a TKI...
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188: Stuart Hopgood survived prostate cancer | needle-point biopsy |Trelstar | Erieada | TURP Surgery
Cancer Interviews
Prior to his 2025 prostate cancer diagnosis, Stuart Hopgood experienced no symptoms. But a visit to his general practitioner included blood work, which revealed a PSA of 74.2! Stuart was referred to a urologist, who called for a needle-point biopsy. The biopsy not only showed Stuart that he had Stage IV prostate cancer, but that it had metastasized to his pelvic area, a rib and his clavicle. He put on Trelstar, a form of hormonal therapy, six weeks of radiation therapy and Erieada, a form of oral chemotherapy. While Stuart will never be cured, this regimen...
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187: Andrew Allers survived kidney cancer | yervoy | opdivo | IVIG | prednisone | nephrectomy | vena cava
Cancer Interviews
In 2015, Andrew Allers was hit and fell while competing in a soccer match. He immediately sought medical attention. and a CT scan revealed a baseball-sized tumor on one of his kidneys, which led to a diagnosis of Stage III renal cell carcinoma, or, kidney cancer. A radical open-assisted nephrectomy removed the entire cancerous kidney. Andrew thought he was in the clear, but in 2019, he was diagnosed with Stage IV kidney cancer. Not only that, but the cancer had spread to his bones and his brain. However, all of the above was successfully treated with an...
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186: Dominique Bieger survived breast cancer | letrozole | aromatase inhibitor | sentinel node | necrosis
Cancer Interviews
In 2024, Dominique Bieger knew something was wrong when she felt a tickling, biting sensation in her left breast. After a series of mammograms, an echogram, an ultrasound and a vacuum assisted biopsy, she learned she had invasive ductal carcinoma, or breast cancer. She would have to get a quadrant of the cancerous breast surgically removed. Dominique was happy to learn she could avoid chemotherapy, instead for hormonal treatment, featuring letrozole, an aromatase inhibitor. The letrozole left her hands, her feet and joints in severe pain. She went off the...
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185: David Peters survived prostate cancer | rezum procedure | sacrum | colonics | cachexia | metformin
Cancer Interviews
For David Peters, what began as medical attention to address an enlarged prostate in 2022 became a diagnosis of Stage 4B prostate cancer. Prior to his undergoing a Rezum procedure, a pre-op workup a PSA level of 19. However, nobody at the hospital bothered to check the PSA level before performing the procedure, which placed David at great risk. Not long after that came his diagnosis. David’s care team recommended lifelong androgen deprivation therapy. He checked out the side effects and didn’t want to go that route. David instead opted for a three-week...
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184: Tina Calderone-Roth survived ovarian cancer | bilateral oophorectomy | avastin | ascites | lynparza
Cancer Interviews
In May 2022, Tina Calderone-Roth felt terrible. She was experiencing fatigue, shortness of breath and nausea. She also gained close to 15 pounds in three days. Nurses she knew suggested she go to the emergency department. Two paracentesis procedures resulted in the removal of 6.5 liters of fluid. Doctors initially noticed a large abdominal mass, but further tests indicated ovarian masses of 7cm and 10cm. Tests also showed Tina had the BRCA-2 gene mutation. She opted to, all at once, undergo a hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy. A week after the...
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183: Bethany Smith has survived lymphoma and thyroid cancer | bleomycin | vinblastine | levothyroxine
Cancer Interviews
Bethany Smith is a fighter. Almost immediately after surviving Hodgkin lymphoma, she was diagnosed with metastatic follicular thyroid cancer. In addition to having her thyroid removed, she also underwent total hip replacement. All this while raising three small children. Treatment of her lymphoma included a chemotherapy regimen of adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbzin. Her treatment for thyroid cancer featured radioactive iodine. Bethany credits oxygen therapy for helping her to become free of thyroid cancer and these maintains her health with...
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182: Thomas Goode survived multiple myeloma | doxil | plasmacytoma | engraftment | vorinostat | velcade
Cancer Interviews
It wasn’t easy, but Thomas Goode managed to survive Stage III multiple myeloma, a rare form of blood cancer that originates in bone marrow. When he first experienced pain in his left shoulder, it was misdiagnosed as bursitis. Then he underwent a stem cell transplant no less than three times, with his oldest brother donating the bone marrow for the final two procedures. Thomas has achieved Minimal Residual Disease status and says his physical health is roughly 70 percent of what it was, pre-diagnosis. In 2005, Thomas Goode was leading an active lifestyle. It...
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181: Keri Darling survived follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma | bendamustine | rituximab | immunotherapy
Cancer Interviews
In March 2025, Keri Darling fell out of bed and hit her head. A trip to the doctor revealed a large mass on her pancreas. After a series of scans, Keri received a phone call at work from a nurse who told her she had cancer; not cancer of the pancreas, but a type of blood cancer, Stage IV follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma. She was put on a regimen of chemotherapy, bendamustine, followed by immunotherapy, rituximab. Keri has achieved survivorship, but each day deals with severe fatigue, which she believes is tied to her chemo regimen. She still goes in for bimonthly...
info_outlineWhat began as a harmless looking spot on Kevin Donaghy’s forearm turned into a pair of diagnoses of skin cancer. The first was Stage II in 2018, but 18 months later, it returned and was diagnosed Stage IV metastatic melanoma BRAF+. The urologist said Kevin, an IT specialist from Melrose, Scotland, may have six months to live unless he underwent a newly-approved immunotherapy known as pembroluzimab. That was in 2020, and Kevin is still with us. The immunotherapy triggered a bout of ulcerative colitis, which left him bedridden for six months, but Kevin says his health is no different than it was before his diagnosis.
In late 2017, Kevin didn’t give much thought to a spot he saw on his forearm. He thought he might have cut himself and didn’t know it. When the spot didn’t go away, he sought medical attention. His doctor said the spot did not look cancerous, prescribed some cream for Kevin to rub on it, and said if the spot changes in size, shape or color, to come back. The spot made none of those changes, but it also didn’t go away.
Kevin was referred to a dermatologist, who called for a biopsy. He was away on a business trip when he received an urgent phone call stating that Kevin needed to come in that afternoon. He came in two days later and the dermatologist said the biopsy indicated Kevin had a cancerous tumor in his forearm. Another biopsy was conducted to see if the cancer had spread to any lymph nodes and thankfully it hadn’t.
Not long after the tumor was removed, Kevin received a phone call from the oncologist while walking in downtown Edinburgh. The doctor told Kevin he was cancer free. On the sidewalk, he dropped to his knee and wept, overcome with relief. He thought the worst was over.
However, his health took a turn for the worse some 18 months later when he experienced severe back pain and sought medical attention. Another biopsy revealed that the melanoma had spread, bypassing his lymph nodes, but resulting in tumors on his right lung and one next to his spine, which was the source of back pain.
Kevin was told he had six months to live unless a procedure involving an immunotherapy called pembroluzimab was successful. The operation seemed to go well, but at its conclusion, Kevin had to periodically come in for CT scans. A couple years later, Kevin was contacted by his urologist who said the immunotherapy had shrunk the tumors and again, he was told he was cancer free.
There was one more problem for Kevin. The immunotherapy triggered ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory disease. He was bedridden for six months, but eventually survived that as well.
These days Kevin Donaghy says his health is just as sharp as it was prior to his diagnosis, and that going forward he “wants to do more.”
He has gone on to write a book, “Stories of Hope and Cancer.” Thousands of copies have been donated to cancer charities around the United Kingdom. It chronicles the stories of 39 cancer survivors.
Additional Resources:
Kevin’s book: “Stories of Hope and Cancer,” available on Amazon, with proceeds going to cancer charities throughout the United Kingdom.